The Other Side of Greed by Lily Zante

Chapter Nine

KYRA

The new guy looks lost. Like a fish out of water.

It struck me that his speech about him wanting to do this type of work, was too good to be true. And now I know that for a fact. He had no idea what he was letting himself in for.

He has stationed himself next to Simona which means I’ve been able to observe him from a distance.

He seems hesitant. As if he doesn’t want to touch anyone lest he catches something. While I am aware that this is a hard situation to be thrust into without knowing the full details, I was determined to give him the benefit of doubt. His reaction tells me that he can’t have worked in those poor communities doing what he claims he did, if he looks so uncomfortable now.

I expect someone like him to be more at ease in the financial district than here.

“He’s getting along with it.” Fredrich catches me ogling Brad. “Why do you keep looking at him?”

“He doesn’t seem to be handling it well.”

“He came, didn’t he?”

Because Fredrich won’t stay away, I’ve put him on napkin duty. It’s not really a duty, but he doesn’t seem to want to go home, so I’ve given him something that won’t damage his arm even more.

I’m going to have to force him to stay at home for a week or two, otherwise he will make his arm worse and I can’t afford for that to happen.

We’ve got Mr. Hartley now.

At the end of the evening, I tally up how many plates we’ve used, which gives me an idea of how many people we’ve fed. It’s good to know, so that we can adjust the amount of food and supplies we need to bring for the next week. “One hundred and four people,” I announce proudly as we start to clean up. Brad blinks at me. “We fed that many people this evening.”

He looks unimpressed, and Simona hands him the empty containers and tells him to start loading up the van.

So now, I have to take him on even though I can see he’s not cut out for this type of work. Still, he might be of some use at the factory. I’ll try him out for a few weeks, by which time I expect him to fold and leave of his own accord.

I sent Fredrich home a while ago, citing that we had Brad now, and if he didn’t go home, I wouldn’t hire Brad.

“How did you find that?” I ask Brad.

“Great fun.” His voice is flat. Unenthusiastic. Dry.

“He loved it.” Simona gushes, even though I see no indication of this on Brad’s face.

“I can see that he did,” I reply enthusiastically, giving him a rare full smile.

“Can’t wait for next week.” His stony look is a treasure I adore looking at.

“You’re on board then?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

His sarcasm irks me. “It’s not a show.”

“No, right. Right.” He scratches his brow as if he’s unsure about something.

“If you can’t deal with this, it’s better you say so now,” I tell him.

“It’s not compulsory for our employees to do this,” Simona points out. “If Brad is busy in the evenings, it’s understandable.”

I’m beginning to wonder if she sees Brad as an extension of her large extended family, as if he’s one of her grandsons that she wants to take under her wing.

“It’s not compulsory,” I state calmly, “but no one has ever complained about giving some of their time for a cause such as this.”

“He has business skills which I’m sure he can put to good use here,” Simona says.

“Ladies, I’m here. You don’t have to talk about me like a third party.”

Simona apologizes.

“I’m fine. I can do this. I don’t have a problem,” he says. “You just caught me off guard.”

“Did it ruin your date night?” I suggest, glancing at Simona and watching as she waits with bated breath.

“No. Just, uh, dinner … with friends. But this is … uh, this is … yeah, it’s cool. I can do this. I’m sorry if I seemed a little off at the start. I didn’t know what to expect, and you can’t hold that against me.”

I stare at him defiantly, if he’s looking for words of encouragement, he won’t get them from me. “Welcome aboard,” I say, and even those words didn’t come easily.

Simona claps excitedly. For some reason, she’s ecstatic about the idea of Brad joining us. “Where’s Fredrich?” She looks around for him.

“I sent him home. He’s going to make his arm worse if he’s not careful.”

“Who’s going to return the restaurant containers and things?”

I huff out a breath. “I am.”

“I can take some containers in my car,” Simona offers.

“I’ve got this, Simona. I’ve got the van.” I shake my head. It’s been a long day for all of us, but I won’t have Simona, who is in her sixties and who works tirelessly, do too much. “I can take care of this. I’ll ask a few of the others.”

“You can’t possibly carry everything yourself, you’re not built like Fredrich. Would you mind giving Kyra a hand?” she asks Brad, much to my annoyance.

I observe his reaction; his unease is palpable. “We’ve already ruined his plans for the evening,” I say, hoping to prevent this. “I don’t think we can ask him to do any more.” The guy looks as if he’d rather chew razor blades.

“Kyra already has a bad back, which is not a good thing at her young age,” Simona counters. I glare at her. I’ve hefted too many things, and done my back no favors, but this isn’t something I want her to tell Brad of all people.

“I don’t mind helping.” The tightness in his voice is apparently something that only I can detect because Simona looks incredibly happy, as if Brad has walked on fire for me.

“You’re such a godsend.” Her face lights up like a firecracker. And then something niggles in my brain. I might be wrong, but I think she has other reasons for wanting this man to work here.

“What needs to be done?” he asks, but his expression and body language indicate that he’d rather be anywhere but here. I flash him an over-the-top smile and lead the way.

Unease zigzags through me at the idea of just the two of us in the van.